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 September is a great month to visit the Eternal City. The stifling summer heat has eased, the hoards of tourists have left, peak rates have dropped and Rome can be enjoyed at its best at your leisure. The warm evenings are perfect for tasty meals at a nice, cheap outdoor restaurant in Rome.
When in Rome, do as the Romans who often just grab an ice-cream, a bowl of salad or a dish of cold pasta for lunch so that in the evening they can tuck into a tasty, good value dinner al fresco. There are 2 strategies: either look for trattorias and restaurants that guarantee a meal for less than 20 euro a head, or copy the young Romans and have your fill of buffet food at the “happy hour aperitifs”.
 The first option, cheap meals means traditional, local Roman dishes that are delicious and made with simple ingredients. The second option is geared towards more exotic tastes with fruit cocktails and food like cous cous and vegetable dips.
We’d like to recommend a few eating places that we consider worth trying during your weekend or holiday in Rome in September.
 If you’re fond of the trattorie a Roma:
classic trattorias, a great choice is Cacio & Pepe – Trattoria da Giovanni, in via Avezzana 11, Prati neighbourhood: 15 euro for a pasta dish and a second course + a quart of wine (Tel: 0039 06 3217268 - email: info@cacioepepe.eu – Opening hours: lunch 12.30 - 3.00 and dinner 7.30 – 11.30 Closed all day Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays. Booking advised).
Our next recommendation is the Trattoria da Lilli, a typical Roman restaurant with just 3 outdoor tables on Via di Tor di Nona, above the Tiber River: it’s just below the steps along Lungotevere in front of the Hall of Justice, locally known as the Palazzaccio (ugly building).
Staying near the river, Al Biondo Tevere, on via Ostiense. With 20 euro you can enjoy a large Roman meal. Heading towards Trastevere Augusto is worth a try at Piazza De Rienzi. The novelty of this restaurant is that next to the trattoria’s tables are seated the families who live in the square and like to have their dinner al fresco too.
Spending that little bit more, there is Il Bocconcino, in via Ostilia. Under the wisteria in Via Claudia, we find the tables of the Taverna dei Quaranta. (Via Claudia, 24 - 00184 Rome, telephone: 06 7005533). Rustic and plentiful are the dishes at the Lawn Bowling Club that is in an internal courtyard on Via Flaminia, behind the Esplora Children’s Museum, here you can eat for just 15 euro.
At the Pigneto we have Bar Necci, where a young, English chef proposes a clever reinvention of the Lazio culinary tradition: two dishes and a dessert, excluding wine, for 25 euro.
And for everyone’s pocket dell’happy hour aperitif in Rome, to get your evening off to a tasty start, there are ‘historical’ spots like Freni e Frizioni in Trastevere and Société Lutece a stone’s throw from Piazza Navona. In both bars, a self-service buffet is set up with pasta and vegetables where customers can help themselves while enjoying a cocktail, a glass of wine or a beer.
 An interesting stop off is the Baretto del Gianicolo: recently opened and very popular with young Romans. It’s worth a visit to nibble from the plastic plates while enjoying the breathtaking view of Rome from the Gianicolo Hill. The restaurant has old-style décor with old tables and chairs, resin and cement floors, wide windows and steel cables delimiting the outside space of the terraces overlooking the green hill. From a historical, local café this place has become an in spot for Roman youths.
In the morning it serves breakfasts of croissants, cakes, toast with butter and jam or cereals while during the day there is wine on tap, proseccos, fresh-fruit cocktails and aperitifs. The best day to go is Friday after 7pm when there is music and a self-service buffet. The address is Via Garibaldi 27f, tel. 06.58.36.54.22. Open everyday: 7.30am-2.00am.
There is an awareness that spending more doesn’t necessarily mean better quality but it does always mean having less money left in your wallet and more pollution for the environment. Eating typical foods, as we said, means spending less and discovering traditional Roman food made with local ingredients which cost less.
Also B&B hospitality is cheap and genuine: staying in Rome in Bed & Breakfast accommodation with a Roman family means spending less than in a hotel, receiving a warm, informal reception and getting to know local people who can advise you better than anyone else on what to see, where to eat and where to have fun.
And if you’re planning your holiday in Rome, here’s a selection of Bed & Breakfast in Rome by neighbourhood :
If you’re interested in another area of Rome, find your B&B on the page of B&B Rome of the portal bbitalia.it .
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